Chapter 32: Before Practicing Martial Arts, First Cultivate Virtue

After Liu Qin left, Li Si brought Cao Meng into the house.

As soon as they returned home, the two first washed the ready-made clothes and hung them out to dry in the courtyard.

As Li Si hung the clothes, he recalled what Liu Qin had said. The City God had returned. What did that mean? Could it be that this world also had gods?

Thinking this, some understanding also dawned in his heart. Before, he had found it strange that demons, monsters, and ghosts were so common here, yet people still lived as usual.

So it turned out that he had encountered so many demons, monsters, and ghosts these past few days because Fengmen County had no City God holding the fort.

Actually, before Liu Qin told him that the City God was coming back, both the original owner and Li Si had always thought this City God was nothing more than a clay statue. He had not expected that the City God was actually a deity who suppressed and guarded the county town.

Thinking this, Li Si could not help breathing a sigh of relief. Although this City God did not seem very responsible and had run off recently, he had finally returned. Then there was no need to worry too much about the safety of those children.

At this moment, he seemed to think of something again. He turned to look at Cao Meng, who was wringing clothes at the side, and instructed, “Cao Meng, go out and help me buy 0.25 kg (~0.55 lb) of spare ribs and 0.5 kg (~1.1 lb) of greens.”

As he spoke, Li Si wiped his wet hands on himself, took a small string of coins from his sleeve, and handed it to Cao Meng.

When Cao Meng saw Li Si hand him money, he was immediately stunned. Then he cleverly put down the clothes, accepted the money, and nodded seriously. “All right, Teacher. I’ll go now.”

After speaking, Cao Meng walked out to buy vegetables.

After seeing Cao Meng walk out, Li Si continued hanging the clothes to dry. The weather had been just right recently. Apart from the day he had first arrived in this world, the sun had been blazing high at all other times, so these clothes could be collected in the afternoon.

“I heard there was someone truly pitiful. When he was very young, his parents wanted him to die. He resented his parents deeply. But at the same time, he also respected and loved his parents, because his parents had given birth to him, raised him, and paid for his studies. Just like that, even he himself did not know how he should face his parents. This person really was pitiful...” Li Si muttered to himself as he hung the clothes.

At this point, he suddenly sneered and said, “But this person is also not worth pitying.”

In the gap between the main doors behind him, a hazy shape flashed past.

“After all, this person has already become a ghost, and he is going to eat people. Why pity such a vicious person? Don’t you think so?” Li Si suddenly turned around, holding the Eight Trigrams Mirror in his hand.

At the same time, a yin wind pounced toward the doorway. It was precisely Xiaoduan.

However, after Xiaoduan rushed out into the hall, he froze in place without moving.

“Gone.” Li Si pushed open the door and looked at the completely empty hall, his expression somewhat ugly.

Previously, he had felt that the original owner might be nearby, so he had spoken to test him. Who would have known that he would be this cunning? The moment he saw something was wrong, he fled far away.

“Troublesome.” Li Si sighed, put Xiaoduan away, walked into the courtyard, and continued hanging up the clothes, as though what had just happened were only an illusion.

But his heart was not as calm as this. He knew that this test of the original owner might cause the original owner to never return home. It would be difficult to catch him again in the future.

At the same time, the degree of cunning the original owner displayed also secretly shocked Li Si, making him understand that the original owner’s strength might already be close to the Dismemberment Ghost, or even beyond the Dismemberment Ghost.

This was the experience he had gained from dealing with ghost creatures during this time. The more cunning and intelligent a ghost or monster was, the stronger its strength was.

Madam Zhang Guo had been like this, while Xiaoduan and Xiaoyu, with whom he had signed contracts, were very weak. Even now, they were still like two little fools. Thinking this, Li Si sighed.

After drying the clothes, Li Si began practicing The Black Tortoise Record in the courtyard. His movements flowed like drifting clouds and running water, and his figure was like a flood dragon in water.

When he practiced the training moves from The Black Tortoise Record, he only felt more and more carefree as he fought, as though the gloomy clouds of Madam Zhang Guo’s tragedy and the original owner’s suffering were gradually disappearing like smoke and clouds amid his strikes.

In this world, although things like the Decapitated Ghost and the Dismemberment Ghost would make Li Si afraid, what made him even more afraid and angry were people like Butcher Gao, Squire Zhang, and the original owner’s parents.

If not for such people, there would surely be far fewer ghosts and monsters like the Decapitated Ghost and the Dismemberment Ghost in this world.

It was the viciousness of human hearts that created ghost creatures!

While Li Si was practicing The Black Tortoise Record to his heart’s content, Cao Meng had already returned after buying the vegetables and was staring blankly at the figure moving and shifting through the courtyard.

After completing one set of The Black Tortoise Record’s training method, Li Si was covered in sweat, soaking his clothes. At this moment, he felt that his dry, thin muscles were also gradually gaining a sense of swelling fullness.

“Teacher, you know martial arts too?” Cao Meng stared blankly at Li Si from the side.

At this moment, Li Si also saw Cao Meng at the side. He did not speak, but picked up the sweat towel nearby and wiped away his sweat.

After wiping the sweat from his body, Li Si turned his head and asked Cao Meng, “Do you want to learn?”

Seeing Li Si ask him this, Cao Meng immediately nodded repeatedly. “Teacher, I want to learn.”

“Then do you know what must be learned before learning martial arts?” Li Si smiled slightly, walked to Cao Meng’s side, took the spare ribs and greens from his hands, and sat on the stone steps to begin washing them.

“What must be learned before learning martial arts?” Hearing Li Si ask this question, Cao Meng was somewhat stunned. He had never thought about this kind of question.

Wasn’t learning martial arts just learning martial arts? One only had to practice.

Suddenly, a flash of insight crossed Cao Meng’s mind, and he blurted out, “Learning the martial method!”

Hearing him say this, Li Si smiled and shook his head, saying gently, “If it were someone else, perhaps it would be like that, but for me, it is not.”

“Those who practice martial arts are full of blood and vigour, and are very easily impulsive. And this kind of impulse may very likely cause unpredictable consequences.”

Seeing Cao Meng still looking half-understanding, Li Si smiled, then said, “People will always have times when they feel angry and irritated. At such times, they may do some excessive things.”

“For example, that boy Yu Hu. Doesn’t he often fight?” Li Si used his hand to pinch off a somewhat yellowed part of a green vegetable, then turned his head and asked.

“Mm, yes.” Hearing Li Si ask this, Cao Meng immediately answered. He and Yu Hu also played fairly closely, so naturally, he knew Yu Hu’s personality. Yu Hu often fought over a few verbal disputes with children his age and was often injured.

“Don’t they get hurt?” Li Si continued asking with a smile.

“Mm.” Hearing Li Si say this, Cao Meng immediately nodded in response.

Seeing him answer like this, Li Si stopped what he was doing, raised his head, and asked with a serious face, “If they knew martial arts, do you know what the consequences would be?”

Seeing Li Si look at him so seriously, Cao Meng immediately felt somewhat uneasy, but he still forced himself to ask, “What consequences?”

“Someone would die,” Li Si said coldly.

Hearing Li Si say this, Cao Meng’s heart jumped, and he said somewhat incredulously, “Someone would die?”

“Naturally. When one carries a sharp blade, killing intent arises on its own, so one must be cautious and solemn.” Li Si put the washed greens and spare ribs into the vegetable basket, stood up, and walked into the kitchen as he spoke.

“If you want to learn martial arts, then study hard from now on. When I feel you can learn, I will teach you...” Li Si’s voice came from the kitchen.

Suddenly, his voice paused, then continued, “If I feel you cannot learn, then I will not teach you.”